Get out of My Head
by FinneganHart
Summary: One Shot: Can a morning run clear up the confusion she has over her partner?


Usually when a man kept Temperance Brennan up all night it was because he was in her bed. Tonight he was in her head. As she flopped around for the thousandth time she tried to cover her eyes with a pillow to block out the rising sun. It was when a bird started chirping cheerfully that she finally gave up. She jumped out of bed and marched to her closet. If she couldn't sleep she might as well do something productive. And a nice run might distract her from all the thoughts racing through her mind.

As she pulled on her tank top, she told herself it had to be this last case that was throwing her off her game. It had taken her an entire week to discover the cause of death and that no murder had even taken place. The case ended with her crying alone in her car in the parking deck at work. After that she decided she needed a week off to try and figure out what was making her so overly emotional lately. Maybe it had to do with Zack being gone. As she struggled with her running shoes, visions of another co-worker's face appeared. She had to get out of this apartment now!

She made her way past all the townhouses and decided to take 23rd towards the mall. **'**The mall is really beautiful this time of day,' she thought, the water is all shiny and glimmering around the tidal basin too.'. She ran in silence for part of the way, her own thoughts filling her head.

'I'm glad the weather is changing. September even feels different…even if it is only the eighth. These new Saucony shoes were a good choice. I wonder why I'm avoiding Booth. Wait, I'm not avoiding Booth. Yes you are. Arggh…NO. Come on Temperance, you are. This is not helping.'

She stopped in front of GW to scroll through her ipod. "There has to be something in here that will drown Booth out." _Slow Show_ by National. She started again, falling into the strong driving beat of the song. She didn't pay attention to the lyrics at first. The feel of the pavement under her feet felt good as she ran along.

"I want to hurry home to you." Suddenly the lyrics jumped out at her.

'I wonder what he meant by saying there are other kinds of families. Could we be a family? Or did he just mean everyone at work? I felt so stupid for feeling like he was going to kiss me. You can't kiss people at work.'

The song popped out at her again: "You know I dreamed about you…."

'All the time, Booth.'

She scowled and slowed to halt again. This song was not working. _CLICK, CLICK, CLICK: _Amy Winehouse started crooning as Brennan arrived on the mall. She made her way past Lincoln , toward the tidal basin. _Rehab _couldn't possibly remind her of Booth. She was right. She made it all the way to the water's edge before the next song came on.

As she ducked under one of the weeping willows _You know I'm no good _came on:

"Meet you downstairs and the bar and heard. Your rolled up sleeves and your skull t-shirt."

Instantly an image of booth in a tight t-shirt popped into her mind. The distraction caused her to just nearly miss hitting her head on a low hanging branch. When she swerved to miss it, she tripped over a large root that had made its way under the path. The fall threw her to her knees and her palms smacked down hard on the gravely pavement.

"Owwww!" She sat back to assess her wounds: a few scrapes to her palms and one large gash to her knee. The blood started to trickle out from under the dirt covered wound.

"Damnit." This run was not helping at all. The endorphins prevented her from noticing the sting. She changed the song once more and broke into a full out run. The beauty of the glistening water, as the sun rose higher in the sky was ruined by her irritation. She attempted to beat Booth out of her head as her feet hit the pavement.

Linda Ronstadt's music was now mocking her as she made her way back to the mall: "it's so easy to fall in love…" Brennan ignored the lyrics and just kept running. By this point she was pretty exhausted from having run at such an intense pace. By the time she came up on the WWII monument and the reflecting pool _Blue Bayou _came on her ipod. She slowed up to slight jog. The sting in her knee was screaming now.

"I feel so bad I got a worried mind  
I'm so lonesome all the time  
Since I left my baby behind  
On Blue Bayou

Saving nickles saving dimes  
Working til the sun don't shine  
Looking forward to happier times  
On Blue Bayou"

She shut her eyes. 'Damn his charm smile. If only he didn't do that I could stop falling in love with him. Wait. What? I'm not. It's just sexual tension, nothing more. Nooo. You're in love Tempe . No I'm not. Yes you are That's why you've been so distracted at work too.'

She had a big crease in her forehead by now. She shut her eyes again, barely noticing a man in the distance running toward her without his shirt.

"Oh that boy of mine  
By my side  
The silver moon  
And the evening tide  
Oh some sweet day  
Gonna take away  
This hurting inside"

"ALRIGHT ALREADY! I GET IT!" She yelled aloud right as the man was passing her. He did a double take as she did this.

"Bones?"

She didn't hear him over the music and her own yelling. She did suddenly stop for some reason and turned to see a gawking Seeley Booth…without a shirt and sweating as much as she was. After a minute he walked back to her as she pulled her headphones off.

"What are you doing here? And why are you yelling?" He flashed that charm smile as he gave her third degree.

She wasn't sure she believed in God, but she felt like cursing him right this second. "I was just, just going for a jog. What are _you_ doing out here?" She said it more as an accusation than a question.

He didn't answer. Instead he just held his arms out at his side, pointing out the obvious. This only allowed her the time to take in his sweat clad physique, dressed only in running shorts. Her blush made him suddenly self-conscious. He looked down at the ground and then noticed her knee.

"Did you hurt yourself Bones? You're bleeding"

The concern in his voice sent butterflies directly to her stomach. She felt like some teenager with raging hormones and had a sudden urge to jump him right there on the side of the national mall. This thought made her look at the ground too.

"I'm fine. I just got distracted." She didn't attempt to explain any further.

He looked at her with a confused grin. He hadn't seen or heard from her since there last case, so he was just glad to see she was not holed up in her apartment or the lab.

"Hey, do you want to get some breakfast or something? I mean, if you're done running and yelling in public that is."

She cracked a smile and laughed. "Sure." She said it slowly as though she weren't sure.

"Will they let you go in like that?" She pointed at his chest, trying not to reach out and touch him.

He pulled a t-shirt out of his back pocket and stretched it over his muscles. "Better?" She was sure her mouth was open. When he placed his hand at her back to lead her away she almost jumped out of her skin. He laughed aloud at her when he realized the effect of his small touch. "You alright Bones?"

"Yeah. I'm okay." Somehow, she was. She smiled back at him thinking that maybe, just maybe her dreams could come true. They walked together in silence without stating their destination because they both knew where they were going.


End file.
